Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood producer, has sentimental reasons for hoping
that 'Silver Linings Playbook' is successful at the Bafta awards.

Harvey Weinstein has three films nominated for prizes at the Bafta awards next weekend, but he has sentimental reasons for pinning his hopes on Silver Linings Playbook.

The Hollywood mogul tells Mandrake that the film, starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, was suggested to him by Anthony Minghella, the British film director, who died in 2008 at the age of 54.

“It was one of Anthony’s last projects,” says Weinstein. "All the books recommended to me by him were brilliant. It’s just so sad that he’s not around to see the film. I think he would have loved it.”

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Sophie Ward, who left her husband and fell for a woman after playing a lesbian in A Village Affair, urges Conservative MPs to vote for gay marriage on Tuesday.